1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a motor vehicle immobilizer and chase inhibitor to surround both the front and rear of a tire of a motor vehicle that has been stopped by law enforcement officers to prevent the vehicle from driving away from the scene without suffering damage (i.e. puncture wounds) to the tire. The motor vehicle immobilizer is adapted to be rotated from an unfolded configuration suitable for deployment in surrounding relationship with the tire to a compact folded configuration suitable for storage.
2. Background Art
From time-to-time, it becomes necessary for law enforcement officers to stop a motor vehicle for the purpose of inspecting the vehicle and/or investigating the operator. Once the investigation has been completed without incident, the vehicle and its operator are allowed to drive away from the scene of the stop. However, on certain occasions, a suspect wishing to avoid capture or the inspection of his vehicle may flee the scene of the stop prior to completion of the investigation. In this case, the fleeing vehicle will be pursued, usually at high speed, by one or more law enforcement vehicles until the suspect is caught. As a consequence of this high speed chase, often covering long distances, the law enforcement officers, innocent motorists traveling on the roadway, and even the suspect will all be susceptible to the risk of injury to themselves and their property.
To prevent a fleeing suspect and his vehicle from escaping, vehicle immobilizer devices have been proposed by which to inflict damage to a tire of the vehicle so as to cause the tire to deflate and thereby limit the ability of the suspect to evade capture. Such vehicle immobilizer devices are typically spike strips which include a set of spikes to be placed across a roadway and aimed at and adapted to puncture a tire of an oncoming vehicle. However, the conventional vehicle immobilizer devices are characterized by several shortcomings which reduce their effectiveness for preventing a vehicle from driving away from the scene of a stop. In particular, the typical vehicle immobilizer device includes a set of spikes that is positioned to engage either the front or the rear of the tire. Thus, there is nothing to prevent the vehicle from fleeing in an opposite direction, whereby to completely avoid driving over the spikes and damaging the tire. The typical vehicle immobilizer is fairly large and bulky so as to be inconvenient to transport and difficult to store in a small space prior to deployment, such as in the trunk of a law enforcement vehicle. In this same regard, when not in use, the sharp spikes associated with the vehicle immobilizer may accidentally damage government property or injure those individuals who are in charge of handling the device.
Examples of conventional motor vehicle immobilizers (e.g. spike strips) like those described above are available by referring to one or more of the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
In general terms, a motor vehicle immobilizer and chase inhibitor is disclosed that is capable of being moved into surrounding relationship with a tire of a motor vehicle that has been stopped for investigation by law enforcement officers to prevent the vehicle from being driven away from the stop without sustaining damage to the tire. The chase inhibitor includes a handle support channel to which a handle is attached to enable the chase inhibitor to be easily lifted and carried from place-to-place. A pair of fold-up braces are pivotally connected to respective opposite ends of the handle support channel. A first spike support is hingedly connected to one of the pair of fold-up braces, and a second spike support is hingedly connected to the other fold-up brace. Each of the first and second spike supports carries a spike strip from which a set of sharp hollow spikes projects for the purpose of damaging and deflating the tire to be surrounded by the chase inhibitor should the vehicle flee the scene of the stop without permission.
In the unfolded configuration suitable for deployment, the handle support channel and the pair of fold-up braces pivotally connected to opposite ends thereof are axially aligned with one another to be positioned adjacent to the outside of the tire to be surrounded. The first and second spike supports project outwardly from the fold-up braces so as to lie in parallel alignment with each other adjacent the front and rear of the tire. Accordingly, the sets of hollow spikes that are carried by the spike supports will be aimed at the front and rear of the tire so as to inflict a puncture wound and thereby cause the tire to deflate should the vehicle drive away from the stop in either a forward or a reverse direction. In the compact folded configuration suitable for storage, the first and second spike supports are initially rotated from their outwardly projecting position in parallel alignment with each other to a position adjacent the pair of fold-up braces so as to lie in axial alignment with each other. The pair of fold-up braces are then rotated upwardly and off the roadway from their position in axial alignment with each other at opposite ends of the handle support channel to a position alongside the handle so as to lie in parallel alignment with each other and the handle. Therefore, the size of the chase inhibitor can be reduced so as to conveniently fit within the trunk of a law enforcement vehicle to await a future deployment.